I think I lied

No, the lie isn't the words on that picture. It really has always been him. The lie was that I'd come up for air. Welp! Turns out I'm still very much in the trenches, y'all, reading and line editing the manuscript to get it ready to send to my subject this Friday, so still not feeling at liberty to start back really posting here. Complicating my timing is the fact that the magazine I edit for is currently closing its end of year double issue and those stories are rolling in to my InCopy queue at a regular clip and I have to pause in working on the book and get those moving as others in the editorial assembly line are waiting for them to move through the production process to closing. I'm dancing as fast as I can—remember that book from the 'eighties? Or was it the 'seventies? I'm dating myself. I'll be out from under all this soon, but I'm just not there yet, though the worst stress has lifted, now it's just process and diligence and pride of work, not gut-level fear of whether I will actually be able to do what is being asked of me, now we are at the stage of how well will I be able to polish this thing that is being asked of me, can I make it really shine?

Here are pictures of us from our anniversary dinner. That image up top is what I gave my husband as a gift, an impulse purchase I made while scrolling on Instagram in the middle of the night, from a website called Lime & Lou, where you upload a photo of you and viola, they turn it into that. He loved it, so I guess I did okay, though I do secretly think it's a bit cheesy. But who cares if he loves it. Okay, back to work. Looking forward to being back here in earnest. 

Made it to the finish line

My daughter and her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and me and my daughter-in-law, all got together and went to see the Broadway revival of Gypsy before it closed on August 17. Audra McDonald was a powerhouse in the title role, which left us all musing on the tough-tender complexities of the mother daughter bond. Afterward we went for an early dinner and my niece joined us. And yes, I wore my carnival jacket again, as I did to the past two Broadway shows I attended, you saw the photos, I just pull the piece from my closet, thus avoiding decision fatigue about what to wear, this city doesn’t care, don't judge me. 

I have not written here in a while. I did not allow myself to open this page, as I needed to get down a full draft of the book, and I was having the odd experience of writing and writing yet the finish line wasn't getting any closer. But now I’ve finally reached it. I completed the final two chapters on Wednesday, and have spent the last two days trying to make them better, they were still pretty rough. This afternoon I printed out the full manuscript and will spend the next week reading and editing it, and then it will go to my subject. Phew! 

I think I've forgotten how to write here. I'll be around to catch up on everyone's blogs this weekend, but maybe not tomorrow, as it's our 39th wedding anniversary and the man is taking me somewhere. I told him I had no bandwidth to devise any plan to celebrate so could he just manage that. He could see that I was under water, working literally around the clock, and he said, I've got this. We’ll do dinner somewhere, I think. Something simple, just us. Thirty nine years just disappeared. I do feel their flight. I’ve secretly been feeling rather rickety, as if I need a soul power up. 

This isn't a real post. I'm just dipping in to say hey, I missed you all. Good to be back. I’m plumb out of words right now but will share more soon.